I had this happen to me once... I've got an old iPhone that I let my kids play with, and loaded the latest Angry Birds for them. While it was still downloading, one of my kids went back into the app store (having seen that's where I got stuff from) and while my password was still cached, downloaded a bunch of Star Wars game guides (though we don't have those games - d'oh!). Luckily it wasn't $200 worth (more like $8 or so).
So yeah, if a parent allows this to happen, even by accident, it's their own fault.

"Why do these dinosaur publishing businesses still manage to thrive despite the Internet?"

Because development, editing, and marketing--and even distribution--have value and take skill to do well.

Less than the publishers believe or would like, perhaps, but more than the/. crowd gives them credit.

Ok, what part of this makes these e-books cost more than the paper version? Most of these are common between the two versions.

Is it the labor and material costs associated with printing? I don't think that the e-book will require more paper and labor than the print version. Is it distribution? Trucking boxloads of paper around is less expensive than spitting electrons down a wire? Advertising? I don't remember seeing special ads for the e-book versions.

I actually got to see the city people out and about with their picks and what-not cleaning the snow out - had never thought about that being needed until a recent storm. The hoods over the lights I saw did have open bottoms. Unfortunately, the snow managed to build up in there anyways, probably not unlike how I had an couple of inches sticking to the side of my car. (That's my own darn fault for not parking in the garage...)